Indians Prospect Insider

Today the Indians announced that catcher Carlos Santana has been placed on Major League Baseball’s new 7-day disabled list for concussion. They purchases the contract of Triple-A Columbus catcher Luke Carlin and added him to the roster. To make room on the 40-man roster for Carlin, left-handed pitcher Rafael Perez has been transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day Disabled List.

With a sweep of the Detroit Tigers fresh in their rearviewmirrors, the Cleveland Indians headed to Chicago for their next "most important series of the season." The White Sox entered Friday Night's game 3 1/2 games behind the Indians, in second place, and playing good baseball. The Robin Ventura-led White Sox showcased that play in a 9-3 defeat of the Indians. Jim Berdysz brings his Saturday Morning "Second Thoughts" on last night's ballgame.

The Columbus Clippers topped the Syracuse Chiefs Friday night 9-6 after stringing together nine runs on twelve hits. Columbus started LHP David Huff (3-1) picked up the win for the Clippers in Fridays game, and the Chiefs countered with LHP John Lannan (3-5). Centerfielder Jason Donald lead off the game in strong fashion hitting a leadoff homerun to give the Clippers the early lead.

The Carolina Mudcats (22-23) returned home following a rough road trip, where the Mudcats lost both series and compiled a 2-4 record, to take on the Winston Salem-Dash (25-19). The Mudcats fell to the Dash 7-5. Mudcat starter Francisco Jimenez found it hard to retire the lead off hitters in innings as three straight lead off home runs...

The Erie SeaWolves washed over the Akron Aeros as T.J. McFarland struggled to keep the Erie line-up at bay on Friday. McFarland, who was coming off an impressive start against Richmond in which he allowed 12 hits, but only one run, was looking to earn his ninth win of the year.

The Lake County Captains (24-23) used the fuel from two ejections in the first inning and a great pitching performance to win the final game of a three game series with the West Michigan Whitecaps (21-27), 7-4. Lake County loaded the bases in the first inning off of Whitecaps’ starter Tommy Collier (2-4, 3.04 ERA) with two hits and a walk. Rightfielder Jordan Smith was called out on strikes.

Jared Goedert is on one heck of a run this season and has quickly put him squarely back on the Major League radar. Even though he is learning a new position he has hit as good as he ever has in his career, and Tony talks about his hot start to date in today's Around the Farm. In addition to Goedert, an update on Thomas Neal and over 20 other players are also provided.

We are 11 days away and counting from the MLB Draft. With that in mind, over the next week and a half several draft related articles will be posting to the IPI with thoughts on the draft, mock drafts, and conversations with Brad Grant and others. Today, resident draft expert Jeff Ellis touches on what the Indians are predicted to do with their first pick and why it would be okay, and also who else he may consider there.

The Indians got off to a great start last season at 30-15 through 45 games, but it proved to be their high watermark and they peaked too soon. This year they are off to another good start at 26-18 and are only three games off their 2011 pace, yet they have not played nearly as well but still find ways to win. Tony breaks down their starts from last year and this year and why he thinks the best is yet to come with the Indians this season.

Carolina was off on Thursday night, but the Indians' other three full season affiliates were all in action. Giovanni Soto had his best outing of the season, Kyle Bellows continues to swing a hot bat, and former Tribe #1 prospect Adam Miller squared off against his former organization. Tony touches on those three players and a bunch more in the IPI's daily morning staple "Around the Farm".

Sweep! The Indians got the brooms out and sent the Motor City Kitties back to Detroit with an 0-3 showing at Progressive Field the last three days. Things are going well lately for the Indians as they beat the seemingly invincible Justin Verlander on Thursday afternoon thanks to some timely hits and great pitching by Justin Masterson and the bullpen. Jason Ruggiero gives his "second thoughts" on the big early season series.

Trenton first baseman Luke Murton singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday night, sending the Akron Aeros to Erie with a 4-3 loss at Waterfront Park. Murton’s single to right center off Bryan Price allowed the Thunder (24-20) to gain a split in the four-game series with the Aeros (28-16).

The Lake County Captains (23-23) gave starter Elvis Araujo (2-4, 2.66) plenty of run support in a 10-4 win over the West Michigan Whitecaps (21-26) on Thursday night. The win puts Lake County one game out of second place in the division. West Michigan struck first in the second inning. Third baseman Jason King singled with two outs. He stole second, and scored on a single by the centerfielder Jason Krizan.

For the second time in as many games, the Columbus Clippers fell into a sizable hole early and were unable to recover. Columbus (21-25) lost to the Syracuse Chiefs, 13-4, Thursday night at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse, New York. The loss was the third straight for the Clippers, and the fifth in seven games. Home runs and a barrage of hits were the thorn for Clippers' starter, left-hander Eric Berger.

Michael Hattery makes his IPI debut by taking a look at the red hot Matt LaPorta. There is a lot of buzz around a potential callup coming any day now, and why not considering his play of late and the Indians' need for a right-handed bat with power. Michael takes a look at two important factors in LaPorta's performance to determine whether he is ready to help out or not.

In today’s Minor Happenings, Tony talks about the hot hitting Kyle Bellows, lists lots of comments from the Indians front office on players such as Matt LaPorta, Scott Barnes and others at Triple-A that could help the team this year, talk about Austin Adams’ surgery and what it means for his future, and provide updates on several other players like Kevin Slowey, Roberto Perez, Clayton Cook, Cody Anderson and more.

The Captains went 2-4 this week and the offense continues to be, well, offensive. The one bright spot continues to be the bullpen and most of the starts from the starting rotation. Lianna Holub gets us caught up on the week that was in her weekly notebook "On-Deck with the Captains".

The Indians and Tigers squared off for the second time this season on Wednesday night, and for the second time in two nights the Indians came through late to win. All night there were lots of critical moments both at the plate and and on the mound, and Charlie Adams gives his "second thoughts" on another good win for the Tribe.

Danny Salazar may be one of the best pitchers in the system that nobody knows about. Tony Wolters may only be hitting .211, but may be proving more this season than last. At the top of the ATF pile from Wednesday night is a kid that's been here a few times already this year. It almost seems like "Home." Jim Pete brings you another thought-provoking Around the Farm...

The Frederick Keys plated seven runs over three innings, and defeated the Carolina Mudcats 7-2 in six-and-one-half innings on a soaking Wednesday night at Five County Stadium. The game was called with two on and no outs in the bottom of the seventh due to a steady downpour. Kyle Blair (1-1) was hit hard in relief for the Mudcats (22-23). Blair allowed seven runs on five hits, and walked a season-high five hitters in two-and-a-third innings.